Heartsick
by Samantha Gold
Summary: When Usagi falls ill - literally, in the middle of the street, no less, Mamoru finds that he's stuck with an unconscious Odango Atama. Who knows what can happen when one enemy is forced to nurse the other back to health? [Update: FINAL CHAPTER NOW UP!]
1. Part 1

**Heartsick**  
By Samantha Gold

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Usagi, Mamoru, or any of the characters in this story! They belong to Takeuchi-sama, I'm just borrowing them!_**  
Author's Note: **_This is set in first season. It's somewhere before the episode after the last nizuishou is found, but before Sailormoon loses the senshi's nizuishou. This fic contains Japanese words.  
_**Part: **_1_

Usagi squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she felt the world spin. She pushed her head into her arms, which formed a pillow on her desk. She figured that if she could just make it through this class…just through this one class, that maybe she'd be all right.

"Asleep _again_, Tsukino-san?"

It took Usagi a few moments to respond as she lifted up her head, blinking and trying to get her burning, uncooperative eyes to focus for her. She clutched her right temple with her hand as the dizziness set in once again and drew in a shaky breath.

"Iie, gomen, Haruna-sensei," she murmured.

"Are you not feeling well?" Her voice softened, concerned.

A coughing fit overtook Usagi then and she almost fell out of her chair, the hand she used to brace herself against the desk being the only thing keeping her upright. She shook her head miserably.

"Go see the nurse," Haruna instructed. "Do you need someone to walk you there?"

"I'll be fine…" Usagi mumbled as she shook her head a second time.

With a great effort, she lifted herself from her desk and stumbled out of the room and down the hall. After being examined by the nurse, she was sent home as she had assured her that she could would be all right walking home – her parents were out of town until later that evening and would not be able to come and get her.

* * * * *

'One foot in front of the other now…' Usagi thought to herself as she struggled down the street. 'Step…step…step…'

"Hey, Odango Atama! Cutting class? Probably not a good idea considering that you're failing as it is!"

Mamoru had spotted the fourteen-year old blonde that he enjoyed teasing so much shuffling down the street. Not one to pass up opportunity, he'd called out the first thing that had sprung to his mind, hoping to anger her. Unfortunately for him, she didn't acknowledge him. Frowning, he called after her again, using the "Odango Atama" nickname that usually infuriated her and turned her little cheeks a pretty pink that, if he were completely honest with himself, he would admit that he found very attractive.

She never heard him and continued walking slowly down the street, her head and eyes downcast. He studied her for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not she had actually heard him or was simply ignoring him.

He did not get too far in his thoughts, however, for the younger girl's trembling legs suddenly gave out from underneath her and she was suddenly on the ground. Ironically, she was a much more graceful picture than she usually was when she'd fallen. Perhaps it was the fact that her skirt hadn't flown up like was its custom, or maybe it was because she lay there gently, her amazingly long golden hair pooling around her. It could be how her long legs were curled up beneath her and hadn't moved since she fell. She hadn't moved at all, actually, the arm that had come up unconsciously to cradle her head resting there, while the other arm was tucked up against her body safely, the hand staying palm down on the ground by her face.

He watched her worriedly, waiting for her to jump up and scream. When she didn't, he hurried over to her and kneeled down next to her. Brushing a sunlit strand from her face, he saw that her lids were closed and that she seemed to be asleep.

Mamoru shook his head at that. He teased her a lot about her awful habits, like sleeping, but he knew she wasn't normally this bad! She wouldn't simply fall asleep in the middle of walking. Unsure of what was wrong, he allowed his hand to rest on her face and jerked it back as soon as it touched in alarm. She was hotter than one of Mars's flame attacks!

"What are you doing out here like this?" he murmured to her quietly, looking around in an attempt to spot one of her friends or at least someone that she knew – and liked – better than him. It was ineffectual, however, and all he saw were strangers in every direction.

"You're going to owe me big after this, Usa," he mumbled as he gently scooped her into his arms. He was surprised to realize that she was quivering from the fever she had.

"Calm down," he told himself firmly, going over his options out loud. "She's obviously sick and she needs someone to take care of her temporarily. I don't know where she lives, so I can't take her home. Hell, I don't even know where any of her friends live! I could take her to the arcade and let Motoki-kun deal with her…but that's a few blocks away and that wouldn't be fair to either of them." He glanced up at a nearby street sign, to remind him where they were. "Okay…we're not too far away from my apartment. I'll take her there and when I get her to wake up, she can tell me where she lives and I can take her home." He nodded to himself absently, satisfied with his solution.

With that decided, Chiba Mamoru made off to his apartment, Usagi held safely in his arms.

* * * * *

She stirred restlessly, a painful moan escaping her lips and her eyelids began to flutter gently. He stilled, going so far as to hold his breath. Tsukino Usagi was lying on his couch, two blankets wrapped around her tiny form. A large bowl of cool water rested on the floor beside him and he had been in the process of placing a cold, damp cloth on her forehead when she'd stirred.

After a few minutes of disoriented blinking, her eyes focused on him, and her eyes betrayed her confusion.

"M – Mamo…?" She questioned; her voice was weak and strained. Her throat was on fire, her lips felt parched, and she was almost certain that she was hallucinating.

He remembered to breathe again and inhaled the sweet air into his lungs. He gently removed the already hot cloth from her forehead and dipped it into the bowl at his side. He rung it out gently over the dish, allowing the excess water to fall back into it. The cloth was cool once more and he returned it to her forehead.

"Shh," he murmured tenderly, offering her a slight smile. "You just need to rest…"

She licked her dry lips, both to soothe them and out of nervous habit. She wanted to argue with him, ask him what was happening, but she was so tired…and her head was pounding like a drum…and why was the world spinning so?

Of course, this all had to be a dream. How else could you explain her situation? Here was her worst enemy fussing over her like…like someone that cared.

On the other hand, dreams were usually pleasant things. And while having a handsome guy like Mamoru treating her well was rather pleasant, – and the mere fact that it was _Mamoru_ acting nice seemed to prove it was a dream – dreams didn't usually involve dizziness, a tight chest, and caustic orbs.

'Maybe I'm not dreaming,' she considered. 'Maybe the sickness is making me hallucinate. If I close my eyes, he'll disappear.'

So she closed her eyes, moving a shaky hand to slide the cloth down over her burning eyes, soothing them slightly. After a few moments, she flipped it over, then moved it back to her forehead. She opened her eyes again and saw that he was still there. Was it possible that she wasn't hallucinating?

"Where am I?" she asked finally, in a quiet voice.

She didn't hear his answer as Usagi tried to remember back to before she'd awoken in Chiba Mamoru's apartment. At least, she assumed that it was his apartment…and if she'd been paying attention, she would've had her suspicion confirmed. Ignoring the pain that thinking brought, she remembered back to earlier, when she'd been feeling as awful as she did presently. She could remember Haruna-sensei sending her to see the nurse and the nurse sending her home. And she could remember walking along Tokyo's streets in her house's directions. But she couldn't remember making it home. Had she…?

"Did I…faint?"

He nodded. "Hai. You're lucky I was there, Odango. Something could've happened to you."

"Why do you care?" she sniffed.

He didn't offer an answer to that, but simply removed the once more heated cloth from her forehead and dampened it as he had before. When he replaced it on her brow, he allowed his fingers to linger just a moment longer than necessary against the hot skin of her face. He noted with satisfaction that she was somewhat cooler than she'd been earlier, though not by much.

"You have a fever," he commented instead. "You really need to rest."

She closed her eyes slowly, then opened them again, peering at him tiredly through heavy lids. It was odd, being in his apartment, and even odder having him fuss over her as though – as though he didn't hate her – especially now that she knew it wasn't a dream. Nevertheless she wasn't sure that she could allow herself to just fall asleep with him. After all, that took trust. Rationally, she knew that he'd already watched over her while she was unconscious, and she knew that he had helped her even though he didn't have to, but she wasn't necessarily a rational person…

"I'm not tired," she stated stubbornly, although the truth of the matter was that she was completely drained.

"Don't be silly," he chided her. "You must be debilitated!"

"I can't be dibilated if I don't know what it means."

"Debilitated. It means exhausted," he provided.

"Oh," she paused, then added defiantly, "Am not!"

"Well," he began amicably, "if you're not, then we can call your parents and get you home, right?"

"My parents are out," she muttered. "They won't be home until at least five."

"It's quarter after."

She looked surprised, though he wasn't sure. Her eyes still held that cloudy look due to the illness she had. "I was out that long, huh?"

"I'm afraid so, Odango-chan."

"That one's new," she smiled slightly.

"I'm creative," he responded, returning the smile. "Now, you stay here and I'm going to get you a phone, all right?"

"Okay."

He placed the cool cloth so that it reached from one temple to the other, pressing his fingers over it gently so that it contoured to her forehead. And upon completing that task, he left the room. He returned not a minute later, a cordless phone in his hand.

"You can call…" he trailed off.

She was sound asleep.

He sighed softly, quietly returning to the kitchen to replace the phone in its cradle. She'd just have to call later… He hoped that her parents didn't worry too much, but she hadn't seemed all that concerned and that hopefully meant that it would be all right. As well, he reminded himself that she often had an hour of detention after school, followed by hours spent at the arcade. Sometimes she even went out with her friends after that! It should be fine…

* * * * *

She stirred just over half an hour later, her fever having finally broken. That, however, had left her with after-chills and she clutched at the blankets tightly, pulling them up to her neck. This had not gone unnoticed by Mamoru.

With surprising gentleness that she never would have suspected him capable of, at least not before today, he brushed her bangs out of her face and murmured, comfortingly, "It's okay…You're going to be just fine…"

She nodded somewhat numbly and struggled to sit up. He slipped an arm under her lower back and helped prop her up. Now sitting, she rubbed at her bleary eyes tiredly.

"Are you still dizzy?" he questioned, rubbing her shoulder in a soothing manner with the arm that still hooked around her for support.

She started shaking her head from side to side, then stopped, pressing a hand to her temple. "Only when I do that," she muttered.

He couldn't help but chuckle good-naturedly. "Well, you look much better," he informed her.

"Thanks…I think," she said. Pulling at the shirt of her uniform uncomfortably, which was sticky with her feverish sweat, she kept her gaze down and quietly questioned, "Um, Mamoru-san, do you think I could use your shower? I'm…"

"Sure, Odango," he smiled. "It's just over that way," he pointed, "first door to your right. There should already be fresh towels and everything you need in there."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Arigato."

"Do itashimashite," he replied, gently helping her to her feet.

Slowly, on shaky legs, she made her way through his apartment, soon disappearing behind the bathroom door. He heard the shuffling of clothing, punctuated by an "ew, gross" from the bunny, followed by the sound of running water.

He laughed quietly to himself. She was quite a character, his Usa… He froze. His Usa? Now where had that come from? He shook it off, convincing himself that he had managed to catch whatever bug Usagi had and that it was doing weird things to his brain. Yes, that was all…

* * * * *

"Motoki-kun, you're really going to have to give this a rest." Mamoru waited patiently while his friend continued to ramble on, on the other end of the phone. He couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes though; knowing that Motoki couldn't see him. He counted to ten before responding. "Look, I just don't have time for a girl, okay? It just wouldn't fit into my schedule. You know how busy I've been lately." He paused when Motoki interrupted him. "Hai, I _could_ make time if I really wanted to, but you're missing the point here. I really don't…" he trailed off, his eyes growing wide and his self-control barely keeping his jaw off the floor.

Usagi stood a few feet ahead of him, wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel that she'd wrapped around herself. She held it to her body awkwardly, tugging at the bottom of it as though that would make it stretch – it only reached mid-thigh after all. Her long hair appeared even longer now that it was down from its odangoes and wet. Her bangs fell into her eyes messily, yet they didn't look messy at all. Rather, they gave her an almost mysterious effect and she seemed kind of, okay very, sex…

'Don't even _think_ about finishing that thought,' he told himself firmly.

"Hold on a second," he muttered to Motoki, muffling the phone against his chest. He couldn't stop his eyes from sweeping over her a second time and she blushed under his look, though it was difficult to tell as she was already flushed.

"I, um…clothing," she stuttered. "My uniform's all crumply and smells like sickness," she made a face at that, "do you…do you have anything clean that I can wear? This towel's not exactly cutting it." She smiled wryly.

"Um, sure," he said. "Just go into my bedroom – it's the door across from the bathroom – and if you look in the tall dresser, you should find sweats in the, uh, second drawer…they should fit."

"Arigato," she murmured quietly, turning and heading towards his bedroom.

He watched her go wordlessly, before finally returning to his telephone conversation.

"Motoki-kun? You still there?"

"Hai," came Motoki's voice over the phone. "But Mamoru-kun, what was that pounding? Did you put the phone on top of the washing machine or something? Because I don't remember you having a washing machine…Then again, I don't remember ever hearing a washing machine bang so fast."

Mamoru didn't answer for a few seconds; his eyes still riveted on the door, which the young blonde had disappeared behind. Then his words floated back to him.

'You should find sweats in the second drawer.'

The colour drained away from his face completely.

"Mamoru-kun? …Mamoru-kun?"

"Oh shimatta," he muttered. "I'll have to call you back." And he hung up the phone abruptly, without giving Motoki a chance to reply.

He ran towards his bedroom after Usagi as quickly as he could without thought – actually, there was a thought. One single thought chorused over and over in his brain fearfully: "She's going to find them, going to find out."

He barged into the room, which he probably wouldn't have done had he had any other thoughts in his head at that moment. He might have considered the fact that he'd sent her off to _change_, to get dressed.

She could have been naked.

Fortunately for him, she wasn't. (Now you may not think so, but believe me, it is indeed fortunate. Because if she had been, he would _not_ have lived very long.)

Unfortunately for him, his fear was realized as she heard him enter (how could she not?) and turned around slowly, still donning the white towel. He could see his second drawer open behind her, but that wasn't what had his focus. While her left hand continued to hold up the snow-coloured cloth, the other was held slightly outstretched before her, palm up. In her palm, three small crystals – one orange, one blue, and one violet – rested, shimmering in the light of the room. _That_ was what had his focus.

Her already large blue eyes had widened even further curiously. "Mamoru?" she breathed. "Why do you have three nizuishou?"

"I…" he trailed off helplessly. "You weren't supposed to see those." Frustrated, he brushed past her, slamming the second drawer and causing her to wince, but not to turn. He opened the drawer beneath it and pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt. "Here," he muttered, in a semi-state of shock and all but throwing them at her. "I believe you were looking for these."

"A-arigato," she murmured, accepting them. She laid the trio of crystals down on the bed and murmured a "gomen" before slipping from the room to the bathroom so that she could change as she had originally intended.

It was only after she'd left that rational thought returned. Suddenly, it occurred to him.

'How did she know what they were??'

* * * * *

Usagi slipped out of the bathroom tentatively, tugging up on the too-large pants that she wore while she searched around for Mamoru. She spotted him sitting on the couch, appearing to be deep in thought.

Bravely, she tried to stand up straighter, ignoring the ache throughout her muscles. She closed her eyes in an attempt to gain control and composure. She needed to look as though she was no longer ill, so that he would let her leave as soon as possible. She didn't know what to make of her accidental discovery, but she felt extremely nervous now and she didn't want to face him.

She walked slowly, praying that she could at least make it to the door before he noticed her. On her third step, however, her footing faltered in a temporary spell of blindness and the carpeted floor made a creaking sound. She glared at the spot her foot occupied, knowing her prayer hadn't been heard.

Mamoru looked up from his spot on the sofa, his eyes pinning her where she stood.

"Err, um, Mamoru-san," she acknowledged. "I – I'm feeling much better now, really I am, so I thought that, um, that I should walk home now."

"Odango, you don't really think that – "

"Iie, really, I'll be fine," she assured him as she held up a hand to silence him. Bad move. The raised hand threw her balance off significantly in her vulnerable state and she teetered before her knees buckled and she came crashing to the ground painfully. She turned her eyes upwards, cursing whatever god was up there, laughing at her expense.

"You'll be fine, will you?" He stood up and she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that after seeing her recent display of how fine she wasn't that he'd never let her go out alone. "I find that really hard to believe…especially considering that you couldn't even take two steps without falling over."

"Three," she corrected absently, missing the point that he'd already known that she was there, even before she stumbled – that he had most likely been waiting for her.

He shrugged. "If it had been one of your normal klutz attacks, that would be one thing. But you're sick, Odango. I can't let you just go off on your own. What if you were to faint again??"

She swallowed, looking down at the ground. "I know, but…"

"But you don't want to face my questions?"

She brought her startled eyes up to his face. Questions? Why would he….oh no. Luna was going to kill her.

"Questions? What questions?" she asked dumbly, trying to act as blond as most thought her.

He shot her a look. "How did you know what they were?"

"What what was?" she forced her eyes as wide as possible, feigning innocence. However, he wasn't buying it, she could see by the suspicion clouding his eyes, and the enlargement of her visual organs was hurting her eyes. She opted, instead, for a defeated sigh, while he elaborated for her benefit.

"How did you know what the crystals were?"

"I…um, read about it!" she enthused. "I was reading this article in the – the newspaper yesterday and it was talking about them! Did you read it? It was a really good article…" She nodded in what she hoped was a convincing manner.

It wasn't.

"You don't read the paper."

"What? Of course I do!" she lied.

"If you're going to lie," he told her, "lie well. You should at the very least know what you're lying about – and whom you're lying to. I read the paper everyday, I think I'd remember an article about that."

"It must have been a different newspaper."

"Really? Which paper would that be?"

She swallowed nervously. "I…I'm feeling dizzy again," she muttered, only half-lying. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

She walked off, ignoring his calls after her as she slipped through the door, shutting and locking it behind her, then allowing her weight to rest against the wood before sliding down it wearily. He'd caught her in her lie, so now what could she say?

'"How did I know it was a ninzuishou? Why, because I'm Sailormoon of course! You know, leader of the Sailor Senshi? I'm sure you've heard of them before…oh, and speaking of the ninzuishou, we're collecting them, so I need to ask for the three you have, okay?" Yeah, that would go over well.'

She sighed.

'Then again, he never answered my question in the first place…what is Chiba Mamoru doing with three ninzuishou? I thought Luna said that there were only seven… I have one, Zoicite stole three of them, and the other three…but why would he have them? He – he couldn't…'

A familiar beeping noise interrupted her thoughts. 'Oh no…'

She brought herself to her feet and turned on the water as high as it would go to block out all of the noise. Reaching into her sub-dimensional pocket, she pulled out her calculator communicator and pressed a button. Rei's face appeared in the tiny circular screen.

"Attack at the park," she told her. "Get your butt over there now! The youma's really big and even uglier. We need Sailormoon and soon! Over and out."

"But Rei-chan…"

It was futile, for Rei's face had already been replaced by static. She sighed, closing her end of the connection and returning the communicator to her sub-space cavity. Now how in the world was she going to get past Mamoru?

An idea struck her like lightning and she smiled. Maybe she could do this after all. The water still running, she held up her hand, rasping, "Moon Prism Power, Make up!"

Seconds later, she stood as Sailormoon in front of the bathroom mirror, feeling stronger than she had before, if only marginally. Cupping her hand to the door, she yelled, forcing her voice to maintain the pitch that Usagi used, rather than that she was familiar with using as Tokyo's famed superheroine.

"Mamoru-san, my stomach is doing a number on me, do you think you could get me some old towels of yours?"

"Hold on, Usa," he called back. He sounded concerned and…pained. That was strange… "I'm going to leave them by the door and then I'm going to have to…go for a few minutes, is that okay?"

She frowned. That was also a change. "Sure," she agreed, waiting until his footsteps had disappeared before peeking her head out. Coast clear. Taking a deep breath, she made a dash to the balcony and slipped out, then jumped to the next building, heading in the direction of the park. She ignored the burning in her lungs and the way the world swirled every now and then…She was Sailormoon and she would just have to be sick on her own time.

Meanwhile, back in his apartment, Mamoru had returned with the towels, practically rolling with the pain that was caused by the suppression of his transformation. He fell over finally, landing in front of the bathroom door and he noticed that it was open – and she was not inside. A quick glance around told him that she'd left through the balcony, though he wasn't quite sure how. All he knew was that she'd escaped.

He groaned, but decided that he would deal with that later. For now, it was actually convenient. He allowed the transformation to occur and stood up as Tuxedo Kamen, leaving from the same balcony she had and feeling for the link that connected him to Sailormoon. It was considerably weaker than normal, but it led him to the battle all the same.

He arrived only moments after she had and he swept into the cover of a nearby tree, waiting for the moment when he would be needed to protect the female warrior that he felt so insanely drawn to. He didn't know why, but he knew that he would give his life to save her if need be in a second. His life was nothing if not to protect her.

"What's the matter with you, Sailormoon?!? Watch out! You're going to get yourself killed!!"

That was Sailormars, forever on the leader of the senshi's case. Her screaming effectively moved Moon out of the way of an energy blast before it was too late, though, making it impossible for her to complain, as much as she might have liked to.

Studying the battle from his lurking place, he found his attention focused on Sailormoon, as always. And he couldn't help but feel that something was…off about her. She was moving slower than usual and faltering more often than normal. He focused on the link again in an attempt to understand what was wrong.

Within seconds, he was feeling what she was. Her pain was his pain, but the surprise was all his own.

From everything he could tell, Sailormoon was very ill.

'It's just a coincidence,' he told himself firmly. 'Only a coincidence, nothing more…'

At that moment, Sailormoon made a costly slipup. Yet another dizzy spell, he empathized, threw her completely off balance and hurtling straight towards the beam of negative energy that she had been trying to avoid.

He made a bunch of roses out of thin air and sent them flying as quickly as possible between the attack and the girl. He willed energy into them and the beam was stopped. He found himself jumping down from his place in the tree, skipping his traditional haiku. He had too many things on his mind to try and think up poetry anyway. Landing beside the sailor soldier, he didn't hesitate to lift her into his arms, jumping out of the way of a second dark beam.

He heard Jupiter shouting out her attack behind him as he landed near the bushes, not all that sure what shelter or protection he thought they would offer.

Sailormoon was groaning in his arms, muttering something about swirls and drums. He wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about, but he figured that it had something to do with the headache that she was feeding him through her end of the link.

He took a moment to study her features, something that he'd tried many times before, though it had never helped much in the past. Even though he could see her, he couldn't at the same time. It was as though there was a mask over her face…no, not so much a mask, but a shield. Some form of magic, he guessed, used to protect her identity. In many ways it was more efficient then his domino kamen, which could fall off or be removed. He didn't know how to get past hers.

Nevertheless, examine her he did. He already knew that she had the most beautiful pair of blue eyes that he'd ever seen – well, one of them, anyway – but her eyes looked especially clouded today, not unlike that different pair of eyes. Or were they?

He cut off the thought. 'Probably just part of that glamour.'

Funny, though, how the glamour didn't hide the pink flush of her cheeks. Oh yes, very funny, wasn't it? And she shivered helplessly, every now and then. Glamour couldn't hide the case of a girl with the chills.

There appeared to be too many coincidences, even as his mind tried to deny them.

"T-Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" she whispered worriedly, feeling uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and focus.

"You shouldn't be fighting in your condition, Sailormoon."

"What do you mean?"

"Kami-sama, you're ill! You're barely able to walk and you're trying to fight!"

"Barely able to walk?" she echoed, an almost panicked look shading her features. Hadn't Mamoru said something like that earlier to her? It was just a coincidence, right?

'Hai,' she attempted to convince herself. 'Just a fluke. No way Mamoru-baka could actually be Tuxedo Kamen-sama! That would just be too weird! Never mind that I found three nizuishou in his room today, or…no, no, no, no, no!'

"Yeah, you're falling down, what, every two steps?"

"Thr – " she began, but cut herself off abruptly. After all, if that nagging suspicion of hers was right and he was who she couldn't help but guess him to be, then he would be able to recognize similarities too, wouldn't he? So, instead, she said, "Not dead yet."

"Key word being 'yet'."

"They need me, okay?" She looked over at her Senshi to see that, sure enough, they were struggling and looking quite roughed up without her. "I'm a Senshi. That means that I don't get to choose when I fight and when I don't." She pulled herself out of his arms roughly. "So if you'll excuse me, I have a battle to fight."

"And how are you going to fight?" he called after her. "What energy are you going to channel, huh? Because you don't have enough to spare!"

She didn't answer. She couldn't think about that.

"What's he talking about, Sailormoon?" Jupiter questioned when she came up behind her.

She shrugged. "I don't know, he's just being weird." Then, in a louder voice used for his benefit alone, "He's probably just upset that there's no new nizuishou for him to grab!"

Sailorjupiter laughed. "He really ticked you off, ne?"

"Hai, I guess you could say – ahhh!"

"Sailormoon, get down!" Jupiter shouted as she tackled the bishoujo senshi of love and justice to the ground, barely preventing her from getting hit. Now her eyes were full of concern. "What's wrong? You didn't even see that coming did you?"

"Iie, I – " she began shaking her head, as much to answer the question as to push away the dizziness. Her head refused to clear at all this time. One tends to get light-headed when they've had a fever, are sick, and yet continue to jump around while fighting for their life.

"Oh, Kami-sama! How did you get so hot? Who needs Mars with skin as heated as yours around?!" Jupiter exclaimed when Sailormoon's cheek managed to come into contact with her upper arm. "You're sick, aren't you?"

"Hai," Moon whispered softly, lowering her eyes.

Jupiter's eyes lifted to the battlefield and she took everything in quickly. She jumped up and off of Sailormoon rapidly, then grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up.

"We can't have you in danger, girl."

"But you guys need me."

"Exactly, which is why we need to keep you out of danger."

"But what about all of you? Can you beat it on your own?"

"We can try."

"That's not good enough!" she cried, paining her raw throat further. She pulled herself from Jupiter's arms and almost fell over.

"It'll have to be! Like Tuxedo Kamen-sama said, how are you going to fight? You don't have enough energy to channel through the moon wand."

"I'll use my tiara!"

"That takes energy too!"

Before Sailormoon could use another argument, she was struck out of nowhere by one of the energy blasts that Mercury and Mars had been attempting to dodge while Mercury analyzed and the pair of pony-tailed girls argued. No one had seen it coming until it was too late and she was sent flying several feet in the air from the force of the blow.

"SAILORMOON!"

Jupiter ran over to her and reached her at roughly the same time that Tuxedo Kamen did. Sailormoon's eyelids were closed.

"She – she's not getting up!"

Tuxedo Kamen put his fingers to her neck, trying to find a pulse. After a few seconds, he cursed, pulled off one of his gloves and replaced the digits. This time he found it. Bringing his face close to hers, he could hear her faint breathing and his face relaxed with relief.

"She's alive; she'll be okay."

"Thank Kami," Jupiter whispered. She looked to the man across from her. "How did you know that she was sick?"

His eyebrows knit together. "The same way as you, I guess," he answered casually. "Look at her, it's kind of hard to miss."

"Hai…"

"AIIIIE!" A female scream reached their ears and a flash of red flew by them, followed by a second shout of "Mars, no!"

"This is _not_ good," Jupiter muttered.

"I – I'm okay," Mars assured them, standing painfully. "But we can't kill this thing on our own. Mercury? Did you find anything yet?"

Mercury nodded, giving her earring a tug. The visor disappeared and she returned her palmtop to her subspace. "We need to use a combination attack on it," she informed them.

"So if the three of us attack at once we can fry this yaro?" the Senshi in the green fuku demanded.

"Iie, I'm afraid not," Mercury frowned. "The three of us don't have enough power on our own and I'm not even sure how we can optimize our attack." She dove out of the way as a sharp claw swung at her, a warning for having gotten too close to the youma.

Another scream rang through the air. This time, however, it did not belong to a senshi, but to the youma. A beam of light had sliced clear through the arm it had swung and it was clutching at the wound now, in obvious pain.

"Maybe I can help then."

The three conscious Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen turned to see the source of the new voice. It had come from what looked like a fifth senshi. She had blonde hair that reached just past her waist and her fuku was orange and blue. A red and white mask covered her eyes, but she whipped it off, tossing it to reveal sea-blue eyes while she gave a "V for victory" sign with her fingers.

"Who are you?" the only male around demanded suspiciously.

"I'm Sailorvenus," she replied. "The Senshi of love."

She jumped down from the statue she stood upon, landing as gracefully as a cat – obviously a skilled warrior. She then pulled out her henshin stick. It was identical to that of the other soldiers, the only difference being its colours and symbol.

"Artemis explained how this works for me. Putting our henshin sticks together, we can call upon the power of our planet and channel that energy at an opponent. It's the senshi's strongest assault – the sailor planet attack."

Mars and Jupiter looked from Venus to Mercury, back again, then settled on the blue-haired girl finally.

"Mercury?" Jupiter questioned.

"Uh," she paused, whipping out her palmtop and reactivating her visor. She clicked on the keys and took a few readings before nodding. "It appears to be logical as well as legitimate."

"Right," Mars said slowly, not understanding Ami completely, but she figured that she meant that they could trust Sailorvenus. After all, she was a senshi just like them. "So we should probably do this before youma-breath over there decides to stop jumping around, clutching its arm like a ninny and attack us again, ne?"

"Hai."

The four senshi stepped together, reaching into their sub-dimensional pockets and pulling out their henshin sticks, clanging them together.

"Here goes nothing," Jupiter muttered.

Sailorvenus started them off. "Venus Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Sailor Planet Attack!" they finished in unison.

The four coloured beams, blue, red, green, and yellow, shot out of the wands and merged together in a larger, more powerful ray that hit the youma dead on, dusting it immediately.

Afterwards, their bodies sagged visibly from the expense of energy. They managed weary smiles though.

"We did it."

"Good. Now let's hope that we never have to again."

"I know. Kami-sama, is this how Sailormoon feels every time after she uses the moon wand? I'll never call her a baka again!"

"I somehow doubt that."

"Well, not after a fight, anyway."

Sailorvenus just listened to the girls' tired commenting while she regained her energy. So this was what she was joining? So far it wasn't that bad. And, aside from the aching of her body from sending out so much energy, she rather enjoyed it.

"Speaking of Sailormoon, we should probably check on her," she said at last.

The girls nodded, turning to where their leader lay in Tuxedo Kamen's arms. Or rather, where she _had_ lain. She was gone – and so was he.

"Oh shimatta."

* * * * *

TBC...Please R&R! Feedback is my inspiration ^_^


	2. Part 2

**Heartsick**  
By Samantha Gold

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Usagi, Mamoru, or any of the characters in this story! They belong to Takeuchi-sama, I'm just borrowing them!_**  
Author's Note: **_This is set in first season. It's somewhere before the episode after the last nizuishou is found, but before Sailormoon loses the senshi's nizuishou. This fic contains Japanese words.  
_**Part: **_2_

Tuxedo Kamen peered down at the battered and afflicted body that was curled against his chest as he jumped from building to building. He wasn't sure where he was taking her though they were headed in the direction of his apartment.

He now knew who the heroine in his arms really was. He'd suspected the Odango Atama ever since she'd discovered his nizuishou, but now he was positive beyond all doubt.

He remembered not twenty minutes earlier, mere seconds after the arrival of the new Sailor Senshi, Sailorvenus. The attention of the other soldiers had been on the newcomer and they'd forgotten about the two of them all together.

She'd stirred then, opening her eyes and mumbling something about how she couldn't seem to focus them. He'd told her to just trust his voice and that she would be okay. She'd asked how she had gotten back in his apartment, at which point he echoed her question, somewhat unsure. That was when she'd called him by name – his real name. He'd glanced at the others worriedly and corrected her quietly, using his pseudonym. Her eyes had gone incredibly wide before collapsing close.

He had picked her up and moved so that they were hidden behind a tree. He had then waited to make sure that the Senshi were okay and that the youma was defeated. They had and he whisked her off, before they could look for her.

Now, here they were. And she was stirring again.

Her lids cracked apart gently and she blinked a few times before studying him carefully. He assumed that her eyes were focusing better for her now.

After a few moments she asked, "Where are we going?"

"I think you know," he answered quietly.

She groaned, burying her head further into the broad and firm planes of his chest. "My head's clanging like a cheap gong," she muttered. "I don't know anything."

"That one's new," he responded, giving her a little half smile with the hint.

She shut her eyes, remembering an earlier conversation when she'd said that, and used his words to answer him: "I'm creative."

"See?" he murmured. "You do know."

Nodding against his chest, she mumbled, "How did this happen?"

He only chuckled as he landed on the balcony, reaching around her to open the sliding door, letting them both in.

"How do you feel?"

"Like a two-year old piece of used chewing gum that just got peeled off the bottom of the shoe it'd been stuck to for twenty months and instead got fed to a huge slobbery dragon. And you?"

He smiled wryly, wondering where she came up with her colourful analogies. "A little better than that. Are you well enough to de-henshin?"

She nodded. "The baggy clothing will probably be more comfortable anyway."

"Okay."

He waited.

Nothing happened.

He waited some more.

Still nothing.

"Uh, Sailormoon?"

She sighed. "I need you to turn around first."

"I can't watch?"

"Iie!"

"Why not? I already figured out your identity, Usagi-chan," he used her real name pointedly.

"Which is very nice, but that doesn't give you the right to see me naked."

He choked, visions of her slight form donning only his white towel dancing before his eyes. Then his mind removed the towel for him and he quickly reddened, willing the image from his mind, lest she could somehow discern his thoughts from looking at him. After all, for all he knew, the link could work both ways! Now wouldn't _that_ be embarrassing!

"N – naked?"

She sighed, oblivious to his red cheeks. "I'm guessing your transformation is different?"

"Uh, hai," he turned around quickly. As she de-transformed behind him, he felt a relaxing tingle in the base of his neck and with it he allowed his transformation to melt away. "Can I turn now?"

"Hai."

He spun lightly on his feet to face her now that they had both returned to civilian clothing. Their eyes met and he realized how close they were. How very close…

"So, um, you're Tuxedo Kamen," she stated, breaking the trance their gazes had woven on one another. "Wow."

"Surprised?" he asked, his voice deeper than normal. She nodded slightly, then stopped, wincing. "You really should stop doing that," he whispered, then after a beat confirmed, "And you're Sailormoon."

"Uh huh," she agreed. She looked up at him through her lashes. "Are you? Surprised, I mean."

"A little," he admitted.

"And are you," an uncertain pause lapsed, before she bravely continued in a voice not much louder than a whisper, "disappointed?"

He looked at her strangely, pressing his palm to her forehead to feel for a temperature. Or maybe he was just looking for an excuse to touch her. Even he wasn't certain anymore. "Nani? Are you getting a fever again? You are warmer than you were when you woke up…"

She gently, but firmly, brushed his hand aside, uncomfortable with the new emotions he was causing her to feel. "I'm okay," she told him. "I'm probably just flushed from the fight; I don't have a fever anymore."

At least, she hoped she didn't. Her head was still pounding as hard as it had been before though. Worse, actually, but that probably had more to do with how hard she was thinking, trying to figure out why he was acting the way he was; trying to figure out why she was responding so unnaturally.

Why did she care what he thought about her being Sailormoon anyway? Other than the fact that he was Tuxedo Kamen…that a big part of her was glad that he was. What would she do if he told her that yes, he was disappointed, though? She lowered her eyes once more, sighing inaudibly.

A finger underneath her chin brought her gaze up to his. "Iie," he told her softly, somehow knowing her. "I'm not disappointed," he assured her. "I'm just a little surprised with myself, for not seeing the similarities sooner."

"Yeah, that we're both klutzes…"she muttered.

"That's not what I meant."

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she sighed. "Anyway, that's the point of the magic, to keep you from seeing the similarities."

"Oh," he said, and then they were both silent, unsure of what else to say.

She spoke up after a few moments. "I should probably call my parents," she murmured.

He nodded. "I'll get you the phone." He disappeared into the kitchen and she collapsed onto the couch, feeling just how much the battle had taken out of her. It wasn't fair. Wasn't there some kind of life rule that said that superheroes didn't have to fight sick? Scratch that, they shouldn't even be able to get sick in the first place!

'Wonder who I'd have to ask to get a rule like that made…'

Mamoru reappeared then, carrying the cordless, which he pressed into her hand. He stood back, watching her expectantly.

She dialed her number quickly, ignoring the barely controlled trembling of her hands as she did, then placed the phone to her ear, waiting patiently while it rang. She coughed before there was an answer, clearing her throat so that she wouldn't sound as deathly ill as she felt.

"Moshi moshi," her mother's voice greeted her on the other end.

"Mama? It's Usagi."

"Usagi-chan, why are you phoning? Is something wrong?"

"…Huh?"

"Did you forget something? I already said that it was perfectly fine for you to spend the night at Rei-chan's."

"Spend the night at Rei's?" she echoed helplessly.

"Um, hai. Did she not tell you that she called for you? It's all right; I'm glad that you and your friends are going to spend some time studying. You know how much your father and I want you to do well."

She swallowed. "Hai, hai, I just wanted to, um, make sure…Well, sayonara, mama!"

"Sayonara."

There was a click and that was it. Slowly, she pressed the button to hang up the phone, then let it fall to the sofa before raising her surprised eyes to meet Mamoru's confused ones.

"Why would Rei tell your mom that you're spending the night at her place?" he questioned. "I didn't think that Rei would have seen you all day. I mean, you two go to different schools and then you were here all day…up until the youma attack. The youma attack, is that it?"

She lowered her eyes again, laughing nervously. "Um, funny you should say that…"

His eyes narrowed in thought. "Rei-chan is one of the senshi?"

"Hai," she whispered, knowing that there was no use in denying it.

"Which one is she?" he paused for a moment, reflecting. "Mars, right? I mean, with the black hair and the way the two of you argue…And that would make your friends, Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto, Mercury and Jupiter, am I right?" He felt silly for having missed the indicators before. It was ridiculous how easily he could identify the girls once he knew one of their identities!

She simply nodded helplessly. The girls weren't going to be too happy…and Luna! Oh, she was going to have one Hell of a time trying to explain the situation to the black feline.

"But who was that new senshi? I've never seen her before…" he continued.

Her head shot up. She instantly regretted that action though as pretty swirls of pink, blue and green invaded her vision and firecrackers began exploding inside of her head. After a few moments in which she barely brought the pain down to a tolerable level, she repeated, "New Senshi??"

"Sailorvenus, I think she called herself… You've never seen her?"

"Never," she confirmed, repressing an urge to shake her head, and cradling her temples instead. "She came after I got knocked out, ne?"

He nodded.

"What else did I miss? Are the girls okay? How did they beat the youma?? Does this new Sailorvenus have as strong powers as me? Did she kill it instead?"

Secretly, she was hoping that he would tell her that she'd guessed correctly and that she wouldn't have to fight anymore. Or at the very least that she wouldn't have to kill…

Of all the things in this world she hated, math homework and detention included, killing was by far the worst. It didn't matter that they were monsters, that they were evil, or that they were hurting people. It still hurt her, but it was necessary.

For some odd reason Destiny had chosen her as Her champion and she would fight the battle. But it would be so much easier for her if the job was given to someone else… Maybe Destiny had decided that she was incompetent and was going to replace her. Wouldn't that be nice…

But to her chagrin, Mamoru responded, "She helped defeat it, but no. She's not nearly as powerful as you are. The four senshi combined their powers in a 'Sailor Planet Attack' and that's what defeated the youma."

"Oh," she murmured, trying to hide her disappointment. "You didn't tell me about the girls though. Are they all right?"

"They were weakened a great deal, but they are fine. The attack appears to take a lot out of them…"

"Must be sort of like the moon wand," she murmured to herself. "Is it okay if I call Rei-chan? The girls are probably at the temple and I'd like to make sure that they are okay."

"Hai," he answered, nodding. He picked the phone up and handed it to her. "I'll fix something to eat while you call," he told her. "Is soup okay?"

"Un," she agreed, taking the phone. She held it to her as she watched him head to the kitchen. "Mamoru-san?"

He stopped and turned. "Hai, Usak – Usagi-chan?" He swallowed. 'That was close, I almost called her Usako! Since when is she my little bunny? She'd be furious if I called her that! Why, she'd probably never speak to me again!' Usagi didn't seem to have noticed his close call though.

"Um…arigato. I really appreciate everything you've done for me, especially today," she smiled.

He returned a half-smile of his own. "No problem. Just give me a shout if you need anything, okay?" When she nodded, he disappeared into the kitchen.

Usagi let the brave front that she'd been doing her best to pull off for his sake fall. She curled up into a ball on the couch, holding back frustrated tears at her weak condition. She hated being sick.

'Like I'm not enough of a crybaby,' she thought mutinously. 'I can't believe I'm actually being worse than usual!' She sobbed quietly for a few more minutes, miserable. When she'd finally gained some semblance of control, she dialed Rei's number, the buttons seeming much too small in her semi-hazy state. On her third attempt to punch the correct numbers, she got it right.

On the second ring, Yuuichirou answered, sounding wearied.

"Moshi moshi," Usagi said as brightly as possible. "Is Rei-chan there?"

"Hai, hold on a sec, I'll get her."

Usagi heard a few dulled bumping sounds and faraway sounding voices before there was more banging and then Rei was on the line.

"Usagi?"

"Hai!"

"Usagi! Where the Hell are you?!"

"I'm at Mamoru-san's. Rei-chan, I – "

Rei cut her off abruptly at the mention of the tall, dark, and handsome man's name. "Mamoru-san's??? What are you doing there?!"

In the background, Usagi could hear Makoto exclaim, "She's at _his_ house?! I thought that they _hated_ each other!" Still holding the phone, she covered her eyes with her hand in embarrassment, even though they couldn't see her. She could tell that this would probably get a little…mortifying? Yes, mortifying was definitely going to be the word.

"Me too…" Rei muttered to Makoto, the mouthpiece covered so that Usagi couldn't hear.

Sighing, Usagi decided to get her explanation over with. "It's a long story, Rei-chan," she said. "Um, you – you know how I'm sick? Well, Haruna-sensei sent me home early today because of it. Except on the way home, I fainted…I think I was in the middle of the street or something."

"You fainted?! Are you okay??"

"She fainted?!?!" came the worried exclamations from the other girls in the room. Rei nodded to them, indicating for them to be quiet with her hands.

"Now I am," Usagi affirmed. "Anyway, Mamoru saw me and he took me to his apartment and helped me out. And then you called me on the communicator a bit after I finally woke up, so I had to sneak out. Um, that's why I left afterwards; I didn't want him to notice that I was gone… Gomen."

Rei let out a shaky breath. "Wow," she murmured. "That was really nice of Mamoru-san. He's so sweet, isn't he?"

"Uh…"

"And you get to see his apartment! I've never been in his apartment before! Oh, I'm so jealous! I'll bet it's really nice. Is it really nice, Usagi?"

"It's a very nice apartment," she answered politely, a little nervous.

"I can't wait until – Hey!"

Usagi winced at Rei's high tone, which was promptly followed by shouting and arguing on that end of the line. After a few minutes, there was a loud 'thump', followed by some shuffling. Then Makoto's voice came over the line.

"Usagi-chan! How are you feeling, girl? And what's this I hear about you fainting? And staying at MAMORU-san's?"

Rei could be heard in the background, demanding the phone back and screaming that it was, after all, hers. One could only assume that Mako-chan had wrestled her for it, and won.

"Uh…" Usagi retold her story quickly, already tired of it. The quick-paced delivery of the tale, however, left her short of breath and lightheaded.

'I swear, I'm marrying a doctor when I grow up! Maybe then I'll never get sick!'

Makoto laughed. "That's good to hear. We thought you ran off with Tuxedo Kamen-sama or something!"

Back in Mamoru's apartment, Usagi paled visibly, grateful that her friends couldn't see her. She laughed abnormally high-pitched – which only served to scratch her already raw throat – and nervously answered, "What? Run off with _him_?! Why, I don't even know who he is! Honestly, Mako-chan!"

She just laughed some more. "See, Rei-chan?" she called. "I told you so! Usagi-chan, you just made me twenty-four hundred yen!"

Usagi sweat-dropped. "You guys were betting?"

"Um…of course not!" Makoto coughed. "Anyway, when are you coming over to the temple? We have a new senshi, ne? You have to meet her!"

"Yeah, I know. Tuxedo Kamen told me."

"What?! He – he did? When?"

"Um, before he…left. He pulled me away from the fight when I went unconscious and then after I woke up, he asked me about the new senshi – Sailorvenus, ne? – and left," Usagi answered, nonchalantly stressing the nonexistent part about him leaving.

"Oh, okay," Makoto said, relaxing. "But when are you coming over? Rei-chan already called your mom for you and told her that you were staying the night. We weren't sure where you were and we didn't want her to get worried or suspicious or anything."

"Arigato, but I don't know…I don't want to make any of you sick…"

"Yeah, but…You can't spend the night at Mamoru-san's!" she yelled. "Hey, I thought you two were supposed to hate each other!"

"We do!" she answered quickly, though she wasn't all that sure about that. "We're just, um, at an understanding."

"An understanding? Yeah, I'll bet. More like you finally _understand_ just how hot he is!"

"What?!" Rei cried. "Usagi's in love with _my_ boyfriend?!"

"AIEE!! NO!" Usagi screeched in horror. The screaming, naturally, hurt Usa's throat, forcing her to drop her voice to a hiss. "Mako-chan!"

The screaming also hurt her head, Makoto's ear, and sent Mamoru running in, extremely panicked.

"What happened?! Are you okay? I heard screaming…"

Usagi blushed and swallowed. "I'm fine, Mamoru-san."

Makoto squealed. "That was Mamoru-san? He's worried about you? Oh my Kami-sama! That is so adorable!"

"It's not like that!" she snapped.

"What not like what?" Mamoru questioned curiously. "And why did you scream?"

"Nothing, no reason."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly and she blushed an even deeper red. Usagi quickly looked away and at her lap. 'Reaching embarrassment level number two,' she thought to herself.

"You know, Usa, it looks to me like you could be relapsing," Mamoru teased. "You're all flushed! I'm thinking that your fever is returning…or is there a different reason for that perfect shade of burgundy your cheeks are sporting?"

'Did he just call her "Usa"?' Makoto wondered to herself at the small snippets of what he'd said that she could make out. Wisely, she kept her mouth shut about that because of the raven-haired beauty with a not-so-secret crush on Mamoru who was staring at her intently. She was, of course, more worried about the brunette attacking her then she was concerned over protecting Usagi's secret, though.

"I'm _fine_!"

"If you say so…" Mamoru sounded amused.

"Uh, Usa-chan?" Mako questioned.

"Hai, Mako-chan?"

"Are you going to be coming over later? I know that you're sick, but I really think that you should meet Minako-chan…"

"Who?"

"Minako-chan! Our new Senshi!" she exclaimed. "Anyway, I really think that you should come over to the temple to spend the night. You have to meet her in person and we have some business to discuss. Besides, Rei will have an aneurysm if you spend the night at Mamoru-san's!"

"WILL NOT!" Rei was instantly protesting at the top of her lungs.

"Uh huh, suuuuuuure you won't," Makoto drawled.

"Please," she sounded exasperated. "Those two _hate_ each other! Mamoru-san is just trying to be nice because he's a great guy like that."

Mamoru noticed that as time had passed and the conversation had progressed, Usagi's face had become progressively redder. He wasn't sure what they were talking about though because he could only make out her end of the conversation, which had been pretty much monosyllabic.

"So are you trying to tell me that you're not in loooooooove, Rei-chan?" Makoto was teasing.

"Of course not!" she snapped. "I just think he's a really great guy. Now give me that phone before I throttle you!"

"Like to see you try!"

"Um, Makoto-chan?" Usagi interrupted at last.

"You need something, Usa-chan?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to Ami-chan," she said casually. 'After all, Ami-chan isn't insane!' her mind added triumphantly.

"Hmph," Makoto sniffed. "Ditch me for the blue-haired genius. Okay, that's fine, I know where I'm not wanted!" She held the phone away from her, sniffing and pointing it at Ami. "She wants to talk to you. I'm not good enough for her anymore."

Tentatively, Ami took the phone. "Hello, Usagi," she said.

"Arigato, Kami-sama," she breathed.

"Usagi-chan?"

"Gomen, Ami-chan. Arigato! Mako-chan's and Rei-chan's screaming was really starting to hurt my head."

Ami laughed. "At least you're not here with them," she commented, ducking the pillow that Rei threw at her and chuckling. "Of course, that is no reason for you to stay at Mamoru-san's. You should come over later, Usa-chan."

"Don't you start too!"

"All right, I won't," Ami agreed. "But may I ask you a question?"

"Hai, of course!"

"You've spent an awfully long time on the phone with us. How are you going to explain that to Mamoru-san? Does he know that you are speaking to us?"

"Um, well, I, uh, told him that Mama said you guys called…because you were, um, worried about me," she stuttered, unprepared for questions. She finished quietly, "And I'll just tell him the long phone time is a girl thing."

Mamoru struggled not to laugh at the lie Usagi was obviously telling. The poor girl couldn't tell a lie to save her life! Then again, she'd managed her secret identity incredibly well. So correction: the poor girl couldn't tell a _spontaneous_ lie to save her life.

"That's a good idea," she told her. "I'll let you go now though."

"Thanks, Ami-chan, Mamoru-san is beginning to look at me strange…well, stranger than usual." Mamoru half-glared at her for this comment. "I'll call you girls later, okay?"

"That's fair."

The two girls said goodbye and hung up. She let the hand that held the phone drop to the cushion beside her, exhaled shakily, and looked up at Mamoru.

"The girls want me to go over to the Hikawa shrine for the night," she told him quietly. "That's where Rei-chan lives."

He was surprised at the sudden pang he felt at the thought of her leaving him. "Okay…" he said slowly, drawing the word out. "So are you going to go?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked, her voice barely above whisper tones.

"You're free to do as you wish," he said as casually as possible. "Do you want to go?"

"I'm worried that I might make my friends sick," she explained. That wasn't the whole reason, she knew, but she would die before she would tell him that!

"But I'm fair game?" he teased.

"Of course!"

"A fine way to treat the guy that's saved you too many times to count and took you in when you were sick!"

Usagi giggled quietly, her throat feeling numb from all of the talking and shouting on the telephone.

"Hey, Mamoru-san, weren't you making soup?"

"Soup?" he echoed. His eyes went unbelievably wide. "Soup!"

And with that exclamation, he rushed to the kitchen in a panic, leaving Usagi to laugh after him. She heard the sounds of pots clanging and a few unseemly words employed by Mamoru. A few moments later he returned looking very, very frazzled.

"Um, the soup's going to…be a little longer than I thought it would," he muttered.

She attempted to sigh and look disappointed in him, but couldn't keep from smiling. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" he protested. "It's your fault!"

"My fault?" she echoed incredulously.

"Hai! You distracted me!"

"Not my fault you wanted to eavesdrop," she grumbled as she stood and stumbled her way towards him and the kitchen, so that she could see how bad the damage was. Not that it really made a difference, seeing as she was most likely less capable of dealing with the situation than he was. It was more out of curiousity than anything else.

Before she even reached the kitchen, however, she was falling towards the ground. Whether it was due to her inborn clumsiness or her illness-based weakness, she wasn't certain. All that she knew was that one second she was walking and the next her legs were no longer beneath her, supporting her.

But who needs legs to support them when a strong pair of arms will do? Especially when those nicely toned arms are attached to an even nicer body and a gorgeous face. And they were holding her so tenderly… If he'd catch her like this every time she fell, then maybe it wasn't so bad that he was Tuxedo Kamen. She certainly couldn't say she disliked the feel of his strong arms encircling her.

Speaking of Mamoru's strong arms, they weren't letting go, even after it was obvious that she could maintain her own balance. If anything, they were tightening, bringing her all the closer to him. Usagi found her own arms snaking around his back, seemingly with a mind all their own. She turned her head up from where it had been buried in his chest to meet his eyes. Their eyes locked and Usagi felt herself beginning to drown in the cerulean blue sea. With aching slowness, his head began to descend towards hers.

Then, with their lips only a breath apart, Usagi withdrew her arms from around him, instead pushing on his unyielding pectorals and whispered, "I – I'm sick, Mamo-chan. You don't want to be near me." Then slipped, surprisingly deftly for one as ill as she, underneath his arm and away from him.

Mamoru was still, his thoughts racing. '"Mamo-chan?" She just called me "Mamo-chan"!' he thought to himself. That was when the rest of what she'd said registered as well as the fact that she was no longer in his arms.

He took a deep breath in to regain his composure, then nodded simply. "I'm going to go and see if I can get the soup right this time," he told her calmly. "You can try to rest some more or whatever you want."

She nodded quietly, her thoughts awhirl. 'Mamo-chan was going to kiss me! Kiss _me_! Mamo-chan, who is Tuxedo Kamen, almost kissed me! …And I stopped him! Kami-sama, what kind of a baka am I??' she yelled at herself. 'But he's been so sweet…I'd never forgive myself if I made him sick.'

She watched him disappear into the kitchen, then followed him in, pausing at the doorway. She watched as he scrubbed the stove, where the original pot of soup had originally overflowed. She stayed at the kitchen entrance while he ran through the steps, simply watching him.

Mamoru felt uncomfortable as he prepared the soup, feeling her eyes on him, the weight of her gaze heavy. He resisted the urge to turn and stare into the pair of sky blue eyes, for he did not want to risk ruining another batch of soup. As well, the scene out in his sitting room had unsettled him. She'd pushed him away and he forced himself to accept that.

'Besides,' he chided himself. 'She _is_ sick! You're taking advantage of her!'

Once the soup was ready, he divided it into two bowls, filling one slightly more. He set that bowl where Usagi would sit, then finally turned, offering her as warm and casual a smile as he could muster.

"Hey, Odango, the soup's ready," he beckoned her.

She smiled back, but hers was notably thin. "Arigato," she muttered, coming over to sit down.

'Back to "Odango"? What happened to "Usa"? I liked that…' she thought to herself, admittedly a little miffed.

Sitting down they sipped (and occasionally slurped, especially in Usagi's case) their soup in a heavy silence, broken only by the sounds of their eating. Eventually even those sounds were gone as the soup disappeared and the empty bowls were left untouched, while neither dared move.

At last the silence was broken when Mamoru softly asked, "So, how are you feeling? Any better?"

She nodded. "Hai, a lot better than before. Um, I just want to thank you for everything, Mamoru-san. I really appreciate it."

'She's back to calling me "Mamoru-san",' Mamoru though sulkily. He felt like objecting, but instead replied, "Don't worry about it."

They lapsed back into silence once more, each looking at his or her respective bowl, and occasionally stealing a look at the other before quickly looking down once more. After a couple of rounds of this "eye-tag," Usagi took it upon herself to rid the room of the smothering quiet…or at least find herself an escape route from the now uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere.

"I'm going to call the girls again soon," she spoke timidly. "Then I can head over in about an hour. Rei-chan has a spare room where I can sleep so that I don't get any of my friends sick. I don't want to be any trouble."

"You're not any trouble," he protested.

She looked at him, suspicious. "I've been putting you out, Mamoru-san. And while it means a lot to me that you've done all of this, I feel bad. I don't want to be any more of a nuisance than I already have been."

Mamoru wasn't certain as to what he could say. How many times could he argue before he would end up pretty much begging? If she wanted to go, he had to let her. And besides, he was sure that he would be seeing her again, most likely soon. They were always bumping into one another – literally – and, as Sailormoon, she needed regular saving – saving that he was responsible for.

Sighing in defeat, he nodded. "Okay," he said. "You call your friends and when you're ready, I'll give you a ride."

"You don't have to do that…I can walk; it's not too far, I don't think."

"You can walk, can you? Oh, you mean like how you walked this afternoon!"

She blushed prettily. "I won't fall this time," she objected.

"First of all, you didn't fall; you fainted," he corrected. "And second of all, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. I want to make sure that you get there okay." His voice was softer at the last statement, revealing the gentleness he possessed, but normally kept hidden. Of course, it wasn't the first time it had revealed itself to her this day. "I'll worry about you otherwise."

She knew that he had her there – and knew it. She didn't want to make him worry. So she accepted his offer quietly, adding, "but only because you'll worry otherwise." And he smiled, feeling that that wasn't the only reason, but saying nothing.

Finally, she forced herself to pick up his phone and call her friends for what would be the final time that night. Makoto excitedly answered the phone, immediately yelling at her that she was obligated to spend the night at the temple and giving Usagi yet another headache. Makoto had finally quieted when Usagi explained that she was, in fact, getting Mamoru to drive her over later.

'Wonder where Mamo-chan keeps his Tylenol…' she gave a mental sigh. 'And why couldn't I have thought of that before?'

"Okay…Usagi-chan, what are you telling Mamoru-san?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he knows you're sick, aren't you going to have a hard time explaining to him why you're coming over here?"

"Are you telling me to spend the night at his place instead?" she couldn't help laughing.

"IIE!" she cried hurriedly. "Rei-chan would throttle you! I'd have to beat him up! And Luna would kill you both!"

"Calm down," Usagi told her with a sigh, wondering yet again how her poor head would survive the noise level that surrounded the girls. "I'll make something up."

"Okay, so, how soon are you coming?"

"In a few minutes," she promised. "Oh, and can you ask Rei-chan if I'd be able to sleep in a separate room from you? I'd hate to make someone sick…"

"I'm sure she'll let you. But I'll ask her when we hang up."

"Arigato. Ja ne, Mako-chan."

"Ja ne."

The phone hung up, she turned to Mamoru and murmured, "I should change back into my uniform and give you back your sweats…" She tried not to cringe too much at the thought.

"It's okay, you can wear those to your friend's," he assured her. "You can take your clothes with you in a plastic bag and wash them at home, then can give me my clothing back next time we see each other."

"Domo arigato."

He just smiled. In silence, they got her stuff together, and he led her down to the parking lot.

'This is his car? No way!' she thought in amazement, as he stopped her in front of a little red sports car.

He laughed when he saw her eyes widen and, unlocking the car, tossed her stuff in the back. He then held the door open for her and smiled at her surprised look as she climbed in. After getting into the car, himself, he started the engine and smoothly began the drive to the Hikawa shrine.

The ride was uncomfortably quiet as each was left alone with their thoughts.

Mamoru was a little upset that she was leaving him, yet amused at the same time, reflecting that it had only been yesterday that he'd been acting as offensive as he could, just so that he wouldn't have to spend time with her.

Usagi was trying to sort out her confused thoughts. Mamoru was Tuxedo Kamen. She was supposed to be in love with Tuxedo Kamen. Tuxedo Kamen was Mamoru…whom she was supposed to hate. Only she didn't. Now, more than ever before, she was sure that she did not hate him.

'And it's not even that he's Tuxedo Kamen,' she realized with a start. 'I…I like Mamoru-san…Mamo-chan.' She stole a glance at him out of the corner of his eye and saw that his eyes were fixated on the road. She sighed heavily and his eyes darted at her, before returning just as quickly to the road, a frown of concern coming over his face.

* * * * *

TBC...Only one more part to go! Thanks for reading this far! Please R&R!


	3. Part 3

_  
Oh man, I'm so sorry for the huge delay, minna-san! This was done back in December, but sadly, my internet was down for over a month! When I finally got it back, it was during the huge pre-exam crunch and I had no time to send it out...and then exams...but now here it is! For your reading pleasure (I hope), the third part of "Heartsick"!! Please send feedback!_

**Heartsick  
By Samantha Gold**

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Usagi, Mamoru, or any of the characters in this story! They belong to Takeuchi-sama, I'm just borrowing them!_  
**Author's Note:** _This is set in first season. It's somewhere before the episode after the last nizuishou is found, but before Sailormoon loses the senshi's nizuishou. This fic contains Japanese words.  
_**Part:** _3_  
  
They had reached the Temple much too quickly as far as Usagi was concerned. She guessed that it wasn't so bad being with the girls. They were fussing over her to the point of practically tripping over one another – especially on the new senshi's part.   
  
Still, she missed the tenderness in the way Mamoru had treated her… 'Mamoru can be tender, who would have thought? And – even weirder – I miss that…'  
  
She shifted in the cot the girls had set up for her, trying to block out her thoughts of him. It seemed that he was all she could think about! How had it happened so fast? Was it really only yesterday that she had thought him nothing more than a cold baka who's sole purpose in life seemed to be to annoy her? Or was that even the truth? She _had_ noticed his handsome features before; she couldn't lie.  
  
But it couldn't possibly be true that she had felt something for Mamoru before! Not before she'd known the truth about his identity and seen the kindness he possessed. Or perhaps she had always seen it, yet simply refused to acknowledge it.  
  
"Usagi-chan, let me take your temperature."  
  
The voice of Minako, the new senshi, broke into Usagi's thoughts. She turned to regard the lithe blonde curiously, only somewhat annoyed at having her musings interrupted.  
  
"Didn't you already take it twice?"  
  
"Well, yes, but I have to make sure that it's the right one…and that it hasn't changed. I can't have my new leader getting sick!"  
  
"I already am sick…"  
  
"Staying sick then," she huffed, pushing the thermometer into Usagi's mouth, which had just gaped open to retort something else. Usagi sighed, but didn't argue. Minako was silent while she watched her timer, giving her new friend opportunity to daydream once more.  
  
Usagi's thoughts wandered as she flicked her tongue against the glass rod in boredom and mild annoyance – at least at first. She very quickly forgot these feelings as Mamoru once again filled her thoughts. She was suddenly acutely aware of the thermometer in her mouth, rubbing against her tongue. This realization quickly brought to mind the events of the day, specifically hers and Mamoru's almost-kiss.  
  
She cursed herself mentally for pushing him away…yet even now she would do the same thing. She simply could not repay his kindness by making him sick…that wouldn't be fair to him.  
  
"Okay, let's see!" And the rod was wrenched from her unwilling mouth, where it was held up and analyzed by the senshi of love. "Wow…your temperature's gone down even more!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Why you'll be better in no time!"  
  
Usagi smiled at that proclamation, despite the noise that wasn't doing her head any good. But there was always something that did…  
  
"Minako-chan?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"Do you know what _always_ makes me feel better when I'm sick?"  
  
"Nani? Tell me, Usagi-chan, and I'll get it for you!"  
  
She smiled. "Chocolate ice cream!"

* * * * *

"Odango," Mamoru said by way of greeting the following morning. The term was no longer spiteful as it had once been, but an endearing term of friendship. And it made Usagi smile – though not quite as brightly as the nickname 'Usa-chan' had made her.  
  
"Ohayo!" she greeted perkily, her odangoes bouncing as she skipped over to meet him at the door.  
  
"You seem to be feeling better," he commented warmly.  
  
"Hai," she agreed, her cheeks pinking slightly. "Mostly because of you."  
  
He shrugged self-consciously. "I didn't really do that much…" he trailed off, offering her the parcel in his hands, the reason for his return to the temple – or perhaps just his excuse. Within the plastic bag he'd brought was her school uniform – freshly washed for her. "I figured that you might need this."  
  
"Domo arigato!"  
  
"It was the least I could do for my favourite little fighter."  
  
She simply smiled one of her glowing smiles back at him – which was when four heads popped up behind Usagi, grinning madly. She scowled as Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako surrounded them, giggling and whispering amongst themselves. The problem was that she knew _exactly_ about what!  
  
"It's not like that," she hissed to Makoto.  
  
"What's not like what?" she asked innocently, though there was no hiding the mischievous glint in her eye.  
  
"MAKO-CHAN!" she screamed.  
  
There was visible wincing at her tone, but the girls nevertheless would not cease their giggles and teasing.  
  
Desperately, she turned to Rei, who had a crush on Mamoru as obvious to all as the one Umino had on her. "Rei-chan," she said pleadingly. "Tell them…tell them that there's nothing between us! Please!"  
  
"All right…" Rei agreed surprisingly easily. She turned to the others. "Girls, there is absolutely no romantic relationship between Usagi-chan…and myself."  
  
Usagi face-faulted, Mamoru arched an eyebrow curiously, and the other three girls dissolved into giggles, while Rei smiled in satisfaction.  
  
"Of course not…Usagi-chan's in love with her dear protector, Mamoru-san!"  
  
'Note to self: kill friends. All friends,' she thought as her face turned bright red.  
  
Mamoru seemed oblivious to her embarrassment, however, as he caught her eyes. 'They know my identity? Did you tell them?' his orbs seemed to question her.  
  
She shook her head, despite her mortification, wishing she could simply sink into the ground and disappear from sight. 'Where's a youma when you need one?'  
  
With no youma-rescuings forthcoming, however, Usagi was forced to listen to her friends' incessant teasing, each girl building on the momentum of the girl who threw a teasing remark before her.  
  
As yet another claim of her love was made, Usagi finally lost it: "I do _not_ love him!! What makes you think I even _like_ him?! We're supposed to hate each other! Just because he did something nice, doesn't mean anything's different!! We're worst enemies…okay??"  
  
The girls all fell silent and their gazes turned to Mamoru swiftly, whose gentle smile had suddenly hardened into an angry – and hurt – scowl. Then he spoke.  
  
"I didn't realize I was still so vile to you," Mamoru said quietly, coldly. "I won't disturb you anymore."  
  
And with that, he turned and left, leaving Usagi with one hell of a guilty conscience. 'Mamo-chan…'  
  
Before she knew what she was doing, she was running after him, ignoring the knowing looks she knew her friends were sending each other behind her back. She didn't care…she just couldn't let him think that she hated him still. Especially now that she suspected that she'd never really hated him in the first place.  
  
Mamoru stopped a few feet shy of his car at the sound of his name. In a slow and deliberate movement, he turned to face her. She caught up to him, but couldn't speak for a moment, breathless with exertion.  
  
He stood patiently, giving her a moment to collect herself. The crushed hopes of only a moment ago receiving new life in light of the revelation that she obviously cared enough about him to chase after him.  
  
At last she had caught her breath and could speak. "Mamoru…" she whispered, her voice catching on his name. "Mamoru, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I don't hate you. What you did for me yesterday meant a lot to me, I mean that. But even before that I never hated you…I do like you…" She sighed. This was more painful than she had expected. But how to reassure him without opening herself up to be hurt? "Can't we just say it was just a side-effect of being sick and leave it at that?"  
  
He offered her a small smile, showing that he would accept her clumsy apology. "It's okay, Odango." He opened his car door and slipped in, his eyes still keeping hold of hers. "Get better, okay? I'm sure I'll see you soon." And with that he closed the door and drove away.  
  
She watched after him until the vehicle was out of sight. Then she turned back in the direction of the temple. She picked up the mental note she'd left herself and ran back in, intent on acting on it.   
  
'They are SO dead!'

* * * * *

Skipping down the street a week or so later, Usagi's feet worked to carry her to the Crown Arcade in the most cheerful and carefree manner possible. But unsurprisingly, as she rounded the last corner, she skipped straight into a chest that she was starting to know unnervingly well. She bounced off of his firm pectorals and gravity pulled her towards the ground.   
  
But Mamoru would never let the little bunny he had become so fond of fall and hurt herself when he could catch her so easily. So that's what he did. He caught her around the waist, strong arms moving to encircle her and pull her up close against his body where she was safe. He had promised himself that he would always protect her, after all. Even if he hadn't known it was her at the time.  
  
Her body flush against his, Usagi felt her cheeks turn a burning pink. She turned her face up to examine his when he did not release her and the sight of his face caused an unfamiliar urge to stir within her. She wanted to kiss him.  
  
He didn't move to close the small gap between their mouths, though. She supposed that he was not willing to face rejection from her twice…Certainly she wouldn't be prepared to do the same. But a part of her just knew that this, being with him, was right. So it would be up to Usagi to initiate it.  
  
Gathering her courage, she lifted her head higher, preparing to touch her lips to his. Mamoru's breath caught and he stood carefully still, waiting to see what would happen.  
  
What did happen was an interruption in the form of the beeping of her communicator.  
  
'I'm going to burn that thing,' she thought angrily as she pulled herself painfully away from him and pulled out the calculator-shaped item. 'This had better be good!'  
  
"What is it?" she sighed after pressing the button that allowed her to establish a visual with the senshi attempting to reach her.  
  
"The usual," Ami's voice was bored over the link. "Youma attack at the park…we need you."  
  
"Okay, I'm on my way." And the connection was closed.  
  
"Attack at the park," she said with a sigh, turning back to face Mamoru.  
  
"So I heard," he said. He took her by the hand and guided her gently down the street. "Come on, the nearest alley is this way. We can change there."  
  
She nodded and allowed him to pull her. When they reached the covert back street, he dutifully turned his back, allowing her the privacy she needed to transform. One hand touching her brooch delicately, she held the other in the air and, pushing away her nervousness, called out her henshin phrase. She was quickly surrounded in bright light as the lunar magic enveloped her, causing her clothing to dissolve as her nude form danced around the feathers and white light.   
  
Ribbons wrapped around her and formed Sailormoon's costume just as Mamoru's resolve lost the battle with a _different_ part of him and he peeked over his shoulder. She slipped smoothly into the familiar ending pose, feeling the rush of energy that came with the transformation, and turned her eyes to Mamoru, who had been brought to his knees by the need to transform, barely holding himself up with one hand. The other was used to produce a rose, and with that his transformation began.  
  
His was not nearly as elaborate as hers was and, she noticed with distaste, it did not involve him dancing naked. It was over within a matter of seconds anyway, and they wasted little time in hurrying off towards the park.  
  
Sailormoon ran into the center of the grove where Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus were already fighting, and glanced over her shoulder before settling into the beginning pose of her speech. But Tuxedo Kamen wasn't there – he'd already disappeared to the secrecy of a nearby tree, where he could watch the battle until needed.  
  
Trying to push thoughts of the handsome masked man out of her head, she threw her tiara at the youma, effectively getting its attention and distracting it from Jupiter, whom it had been preparing to launch an ice shard at.  
  
"Fighting for love and justice, I am the pretty suited soldier, Sailormoon!" she cried, moving her arms in the appropriate gestures. She ignored the cold gaze the youma had trained on her, which matched the monster's theme. The female – at least she assumed it was a female; they always seemed to be – appeared glass-like, but in actuality was made of ice. "I shall punish you on behalf of the moon! …And does the Dark Kingdom even realize that there are other places in Tokyo than the park?"  
  
Icyclia, the name by which the youma called herself, ignored the superheroine's flippant remark. Instead, she sent a scream of icy breath at her, intent on encasing her in frozen water.  
  
Sailormoon shrieked and threw herself out of the way, landing ungracefully on her face. 'Oww…' she complained mentally. And then, with mortification, 'And of course He probably saw the whole thing!'  
  
She didn't have time for too many other thoughts, however, as yet another glacial breath was sent her way. Unfortunately for the soldier of justice, from her position on the ground she couldn't move out of the way in time, leaving her with no other option but to close her eyes and scream.  
  
But wherever there was Sailormoon screaming in danger, there was always Tuxedo Kamen rushing to rescue her. And this time was no exception.  
  
He wrapped muscular arms around her form, pulling her into his arms bridegroom style as he moved them out of harm's way. A glance was tossed back over his shoulder to make sure that they had cleared the dangerous breath, only to watch his domino mask fly by in horror, a stray yet powerful gust of the youma's catching it off his face.  
  
He landed immediately, his feet hitting the pavement harshly, his hands leaving Sailormoon to fly up to his face. The soldier of the moon, upon noticing the cause of his distress, quickly tackled him down, attempting to shield his face from her fellow senshi with her body.  
  
It was too late nonetheless; the pretty soldiers had already seen.  
  
"M – Mamoru-san?" the whisper escaped Sailormercury's lips as the identity of the masked man registered.  
  
"Hey…isn't that the cute guy that was over the other day?" Venus questioned the other two, trying to peak behind Sailormoon for a better look.  
  
"You knew," Jupiter mumbled, noting the distraught way Moon had flung herself at Tuxedo Kamen. "Sailormoon…why didn't you tell us?"  
  
Sailormoon lowered her head in shame. "I don't know what you're talking about…" she said quietly, her hand slipping behind her back and ripping off one of her bows. She folded it as best she could and bent to tie it over Mamoru's cerulean eyes.  
  
"It's okay," he told Moon softly, feeling warmed that she had tried so hard to protect him. He gently removed her makeshift mask, which was missing two crucial things – holes. He was blind with it. "I guess it's time they knew…" Softer yet, he added to Sailormoon alone, "If you can trust them, then so will I."  
  
She nodded wordlessly, then turned to raise worried eyes to her friends, who were watching her, betrayal etched on their faces.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us?" Jupiter repeated.  
  
"I'm sorry…" she whispered feebly. "It wasn't my secret to tell…"  
  
It was then that they were caught off-guard by Icyclia, who cast an ice-glass dome around the group, shrouding them in a freezing bubble. The battle, after all, would not wait while they sorted out their problems. The youma did not care for their argument.  
  
"Shimatta," Tuxedo Kamen cursed, pressing a gloved hand to the crystallized wall of their prison. "We should have been paying attention…"  
  
"Here's your mask," Mercury said distractedly as she handed him the thin white domino kamen she had picked off of the now frozen ground, concurrently analyzing the dome using her visor.  
  
"Arigato." The mask was replaced on his face.  
  
"It's cold in here," Moon whined. "Mercury, can't you figure it out faster?" She banged a covered fist against the ice holding them captive. "I'm cold!"  
  
"Calm down, Sailormoon, we'll get out…"  
  
"Better be soon… I was just sick a week ago! I don't want to get sick again! If this coldness makes me sick, I swear I'm going to chase down the Dark Kingdom on my own and…"  
  
"Would my cape make you feel any better?"  
  
She broke off her tirade to look at him. He was already reaching to unclasp the elegant cape that hung at his shoulders.  
  
'It does look pretty warm,' she mused. 'But dammit, he looks so dashing with it on! Everyone knows princes and knights in shining armour need capes! It's all about the cape…though that was really sweet of him to offer…'  
  
She was just about to decline politely when an explosion rang out outside of the bubble.  
  
A cry of "FIRE SOUL!" preceded the burst of flames at the side of the ice, melting a rather large hole in the side of it. Another flame attack and the dome was nothing more than water, flooding down the paved path through the center of the park.  
  
"Mars!" Venus cried happily.  
  
"Took you long enough," Sailormoon muttered, sticking her tongue out at the dark-haired senshi.  
  
"Just be glad I saved your sorry butts," Sailormars shot back.   
  
"You wrecked it!" Icyclia yelled angrily, mourning the cell she had created.  
  
Sailormars sweatdropped. "Yeah, well, it happens…"  
  
This only infuriated her further and, screaming in rage, she began sending shards of ice flying in every direction – the senshi's, more often than not. Various screams rang out as the soldiers attempted to avoid the various attacks.  
  
"Mars!" Mercury yelled as she jumped up and behind some bushes to avoid being skewered. "Use a flame attack! Her weakness is fire!"  
  
"I can't!" she cried in response, launching herself into a graceful front roll. "She's going too fast! I'll get killed in the process…I need a distraction!"  
  
"Oh…right!" And with that Sailormercury sent out a spray of bubbles from her cover, filling the park with fog, and providing the distraction Mars needed.  
  
Sailormars brought her hands together and sent a stream of fire at the blinded youma, stunning it. "Now, Sailormoon!"  
  
The pigtailed senshi nodded once and spun her moon wand into the air. "Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried. When she was finished, her body sagged, spent from channeling so much energy. She turned slowly, her eyes searching for her masked protector, but he had already disappeared.  
  
She sighed and instead let her eyes meet her friends'. She regretted it as she saw the hurt they, with the exception of Mars (who still did not know), felt. She lowered her eyes once more.  
  
With no one around, the girls de-transformed, and began the slow walk to their homes.  
  
After a few minutes, Rei spoke up. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked. "You guys are being _way_ too quiet. What did I miss?"  
  
"Tuxedo Kamen is the hot guy that took care of Usagi when she was sick!" Minako blurted before anyone could stop her.  
  
"Mamoru-san," Ami supplied.  
  
"And Usagi-chan knew," Makoto added quietly, turning sad eyes on their leader.  
  
Rei, too, turned towards her. "Usagi?" Usagi remained silent, however, prodding Rei to question again. "Usagi…is that true?" she asked softly, a part of her already knowing the truth.  
  
Slowly, Usagi nodded. "Hai," she whispered just as softly.  
  
Rei stopped walking, and the others followed her lead. Fearing the worst, the odangoed blonde dropped her head, avoiding the priestess' eyes. Rei was notorious for her gigantic explosions and her short-temper, after all. She was sure she was really in for it this time.  
  
"Do you love him?"  
  
The question caught Usagi by surprise, and in reaction she jerked her head up violently. Apparently it had taken the other girls by surprise as well, as their heads had all snapped similarly, and now they were all watching Usagi with extreme curiousity.  
  
"I…l-love…me…l-lo…ve…Mamo…" Usagi stuttered helplessly, completely unprepared for such a question. She liked him, certainly. A great deal at that; but _love_? It was such a strong word…a word she wasn't certain she was ready to use just yet.  
  
"I see," Rei murmured. She mused, "Well, you _did_ call dibs on Tuxie way before I did, so I guess it's only fair."  
  
"Rei-chan, I thought you liked Mamoru-san," Makoto interrupted.  
  
"I did," the raven-haired beauty agreed with a shrug. "But it's obvious those two are totally gone on each other! Besides, now I have one more thing to tease Usagi about being right over." She grinned devilishly.  
  
Usa stuck her tongue out at the other girl childishly, but internally, her head was spinning. Was it true? Did she love Mamoru? Rei had given her the go-ahead… What more did she need to worry about? A relationship with Mamoru might just be feasible… If he wanted one, that was. And that was really all there was to find out…  
  
She came out of her thoughts when Minako bumped her arm. "What?"  
  
"Um…we're at your house, Usagi-chan…"  
  
She blushed in embarrassment. It was then that she noticed that her fiery friend was missing. "Hey, minna, where's Rei-chan?"  
  
"Oh, I think she's still chasing after some sandy-haired hunk she spotted a few blocks back," giggled Makoto. "Where've you been? Dreamland?"  
  
"More like Mamoru-land!" Minako laughed.  
  
"No I wasn't!" Usagi argued, but her blush had deepened, betraying her.  
  
Her friends, naturally, did not believe her.  
  
"Oh, la morte!" Minako sighed happily, clasping her hands together dramatically.   
  
"Um, I think you mean l'amour, Minako-chan," Ami corrected timidly, sweatdropping at the bubbly blonde's poor French. After all, she was fairly certain that Minako had not meant to swoon over death. (AN: Unless you're referring to the God of Death AKA Duo Maxwell ^^)  
  
She dismissed that with a wave of her hand and a nonchalant "whatever!"  
  
Ami and Makoto shook their heads and Usagi used the moment of distraction to slip away from her friends and into her house, unnoticed. 

* * * * *

Usagi raised a tentative hand to the door in front of her, her finger touching the tiny buzzer but not daring to press it, then lowered it dejectedly. What in the world would she possibly say to explain her presence there?  
  
'What am I doing here anyway?' she wondered. 'Mamo-chan's going to think I'm some kind of psycho stalker!'  
  
"But it's been a whole week and I really want to see him!!" she whined, before clamping a hand over her mouth, realizing she'd been speaking out loud.  
  
'Baka Usagi!' the blonde cursed herself. 'I hope he didn't hear that!'  
  
She looked at the door nervously and then, taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and pushed the doorbell. 'Well, no backing out now!'  
  
Usagi was just about to change her mind and run and hide, when the door opened. Her breath caught as Mamoru stood before her, looking delicious as usual – and somewhat surprised to see her. She smiled nervously at him without saying a word, for she suddenly couldn't think of a single thing to say.  
  
"Usa," he greeted her.   
  
'Well, he's calling me "Usa" instead of "Odango", that's a good sign, right?'  
  
"Hi Mamoru," she said slowly, very aware of how stupid she felt and how foolish she must look to him. He didn't say anything in response and, assuming he was waiting for her to go on, she added awkwardly, "Haven't seen you in a while."  
  
"Exams," he explained. "I wrote my last of the semester today."  
  
"Oh."  
  
'Great, now what? I'm running out of things to say! I probably look like the biggest idiot standing outside his door like some Girl Scout trying to sell him cookies or something! I need something to say…something good! But what? ARGH! This is so hard! And I can't just say, "Mamo-chan, I haven't seen you in a week and it's been driving me crazy 'cause I've been wanting to kiss you so badly since you took care of me!" He'd…well, okay, so maybe he wouldn't kick me out. He'd probably only laugh at me. Which would be _way_ worse! I hate this!'  
  
While Usagi was cursing herself mentally, Mamoru was watching her with interest – especially the bottom lip that she was chewing on nervously and noting that she looked adorable while doing it. Finally, he interrupted her thoughts, inviting her in.  
  
She smiled at him gratefully and accepted his invitation. He led her into his living room, where she sat on his couch. He sat beside her, but there was a good foot of space separating them.  
  
"So," Mamoru said after a few moments of eerie silence. "What brings you here?"  
  
'Please let her just want to see me…' Mamoru thought, almost surprised at how quickly the quirky blonde had changed from a mere nuisance in his life to a beam of sunshine that he looked forward to seeing more than anything else.  
  
'Oh, he _would_ have to ask that! Kuso, what am I going to tell him?? "Well, Mamo-chan, I just really wanted to see you!" No way! That's probably the last thing he wants to hear from me!' she thought. 'Then again, he _did_ try to kiss me that time when I was sick…But what if I just _thought_ that's what he was doing? What if being sick just made me imagine things?? Why is this so hard?!'  
  
"Um…" she trailed off, still trying to think of a fitting excuse. That was when she conveniently remembered the meeting from a few days ago, and then she had one. "Well, I wanted to talk to you…about the other senshi knowing your identity… Are you okay with that?"  
  
He smiled, touched by her concern, yet disappointed that there was nothing more. "It's okay, Usa-chan," he said. "I already figured out theirs, so it's only fair. And I trust you and you trust them, so I will too."  
  
'He trusts me?'  
  
"Yeah, they're really trustworthy," she agreed, wetting her lips apprehensively. This was too much. All the nerve she'd worked so hard to gather had gotten tangled during her stay, leaving her a mess.   
  
Suddenly, she decided that going over had been a very, very bad idea and she had to get out of his apartment – and away from his sexy cobalt eyes – as soon as possible. Standing up, she offered Mamoru a strained smile and said, "Well, I guess I should get going…"  
  
'Leaving? She's leaving already? But she just got here! How can I get her to stay? Think… I know! Teasing. Never fails.'  
  
"You seem to be in a hurry… Afraid some of my charm might rub off on you?"  
  
She eyed him curiously. He was teasing her, something he hadn't done in a while. But the rhythm was familiar and she fell into it comfortably. "Maybe if you had some to rub off in the first place!"  
  
He made a small noise of disbelief. "I think we both know that you can't get enough of it!"  
  
He'd expected her to respond with something like "Get enough what? Hot air? It's warm enough outside, thankyouverymuch" or "Please! The little bit of your so-called charm that I've gotten is enough to last me lifetimes!" but she didn't. Rather, she did something unexpected – she blushed. And that gave him hope.  
  
'Does she like me the same way that I like her?'  
  
After a moment of painful searching for _something_ to say, she feebly tried, "That's what you think," while willing the pink from her cheeks.  
  
He took pity on her and didn't comment on the rouge stain that would not fade. Instead he said, "What I think? Ha! It's what I _know_!"  
  
"You wish!"  
  
'You have no idea…' he thought, but instead said, "Like I wish to take Beryl as my lover!"  
  
"Ewwww," she made a face. "That was mean!"  
  
He laughed. "Gomen."  
  
She laughed too, almost all of her nervousness gone, comfortable in the old pattern. Mamoru noticed the way her previously tense body had relaxed and smiled to himself, realizing that he had succeeded in putting her at ease. She would stay longer now, he knew, and he was glad.  
  
But then she had to open her mouth and it was his turn to be uncomfortable.  
  
"Mamoru-san, why do you want the nizuishou?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted defensively.  
  
She shrugged. "We're looking for the moon princess," she explained. "The ginzuishou is supposed to be hers and the nizuishou will help us to get it. When we find her, she'll get the moon wand to and take over as leader."  
  
'They're looking for the moon princess too?'  
  
He studied her genuinely unconcerned face. "Doesn't that bother you?"  
  
"What? That she'll take over? Why should it? It'll certainly make my life easier!" She turned back to him. "Now it's your turn to answer."  
  
"I…I'm looking for the moon princess too," he told her quietly. "My parents died in a car accident when I was little. I woke up in the hospital unable to ever remember my own name. I lived in an orphanage while working a few jobs until I was old enough and had enough money to move out on my own. So I've been living on my own ever since."  
  
'Why am I telling her this?' he wondered to himself, unable to comprehend what was compelling himself to share such personal details from his history with her. But he trusted her, he'd admitted that to both of them already. 'Am I trying to warn her away?' Yet one look at her filled him with warmth, for her eyes told him everything – she would not be pushed away by something like this.  
  
Usagi felt tears begin to well in her eyes, moved for the boy who had lost everything and felt compassion for the man he had become – a man she had fallen in love with, whether or not she was ready to admit it.  
  
"But ever since I can remember," he continued, "the moon princess has come to me in my dreams. She's asked me to bring her the crystal… And I think that when I do, I'll finally know who I am." Though a part of Mamoru told him that he might not even need the princess to learn who he was. The more time he spent with the tiny blonde beside him, the more alive he felt, and the less his past seemed to matter.  
  
Usa was quiet for a few moments. "Then we really are on the same side," she said at last. "We even want the nizuishou for the same reason!"  
  
He nodded thoughtfully. It was true and it was something he hadn't realized before. "I guess so."  
  
After another few moments of silence, where they each were lost in their respective thoughts of love and duty, Usagi laughed quietly to herself, piquing Mamoru's attention, and prompting him to ask her what she was thinking.  
  
She giggled a little self-consciously. "I was just thinking how funny this is. I mean, a few weeks ago I had no clue who you were. All I thought was that you were some jerk who loved making fun of me. No offense," she added hastily. "Anyway, you didn't know who I was either. You just thought I was a complete cry-baby brat."  
  
"No I didn't!" She studied him with disbelief in her eyes at his dubious denial. "Well, not a _complete_ cry-baby brat, at any rate," he amended.  
  
She laughed. "I just think it's funny because I used to think I hated you and now I like you so much it's crazy!" Her laughter halted abruptly as her words registered.  
  
'Oh Kami-sama! Tell me I did not just _say_ that! Oh, big mouth! Why must I be such an absolute baka! He's going to laugh at me so bad! I'm never going to be able to live this one down! Kami-sama, no!'  
She closed her eyes tightly to shut out any tears and lowered her head so that he couldn't see her face. At least he would not see her pain. She braced herself for his laughter, the mocking laugh she'd known so well before. The laugh she'd hoped to never hear again, but thanks to her stupidity, it would be coming very soon.  
  
Except it never did.  
  
There was no laughter as he placed a finger under her chin gently and lifted it, so that he could see her pretty face and the beautiful eyes she was trying so hard to hide.  
  
Looking into his intense eyes, Usagi felt herself being swept away by the river of emotion they stirred in her, her worries and fears of only moments ago simply washed away. She wet her lips – this was it. She was finally going to be able to kiss him!  
  
Or so she thought, when suddenly the familiar musical beeping of her communicator sounded, stilling all movement.  
  
'Oh no! Not again!' she thought. Then she unexpectedly pushed forward and hurriedly brushed his lips with her soft mouth. 'I don't care! Besides, this way if he rejects me I can always just get killed and not have to be embarrassed!'  
  
She pulled away, leaving Mamoru surprised and stone-still. She pulled out the communicator.  
  
"Let me guess. Attack at the park?" she asked flippantly as Makoto's face appeared in the small circular screen.  
  
"Nani?" she questioned. "Oh no! I must have hit your button by accident! Sorry, Usagi-chan. I wanted to ask Ami-chan a question about the homework. Her button is right next to yours. Ja ne!" And she cut the connection.  
  
'Oh no…this it bad…very, very, very _bad_!' She turned nervous eyes to Mamoru who was still sitting, unmoving, showing no visible signs of any emotion other than surprise. 'And oh Kami-sama, tell me that's not disgust! Please don't let him be grossed out that I kissed him! What was I _thinking_?!'  
  
"You know what? It's _really_ time for me to go…" she mumbled as she made a hasty dash for the door. "Ja!"  
  
'Hope I don't have to talk to you for a very, very long time…' she added mentally.  
  
She struggled to contain her burning cheeks while shoving her foot blindly into a shoe. Usagi finally got the pair on and had just reached for the doorknob when an arm suddenly snaked around her body and around her waist. She found herself pulled back gently and her back came into contact with Mamoru's chest. He bent his head and whispered "Don't go" softly into her ear before pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek.  
  
'Who could resist a sexy voice like that?' she thought absently as she slowly allowed herself to relax back into his embrace, melting into him.  
  
"Okay," she whispered tentatively. "I won't."

* * * * *

The following day found Mamoru and Usagi standing side by side at the Crown Arcade. Motoki, upon noticing the pair, raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's with the civility?" he joked.  
  
Mamoru smiled, took Usagi's hand in his own and said, "Motoki, I'd like you to meet my new girlfriend."  
  
Motoki's first words when he came to were: "No time for a girlfriend, huh?"

**The End! Finally!**

_Now please let me know what you all thought of it!_


End file.
